Britain, France, Germany push for UN resolution on Syria

Germany, Britain and France were trying Thursday to secure a United Nations resolution to condemn human rights violations in Syria and call for an immediate halt to violence in the country, dpa reported.

The draft resolution calls on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, which the United Nations says has so far killed more than 3,500 people. It also calls on Syria to implement an Arab League plan to end the violence.

In October, Russia and China vetoed a similar European-backed resolution threatening sanctions on Syria it failed to stop its military campaign against protesters.

Human rights groups have been calling for a quick adoption of a resolution on Syria at the United Nations.

"The General Assembly is finally given a chance to demonstrate that the global UN membership will not simply stand by, while ordinary Syrians are being killed, arbitrarily detained and tortured," said Human Rights Watch's Philippe Bolopion.